Apparatus for realigning electrical connector terminal pins

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for bringing bent terminal pins of an electrical connector into alignment in preparation for wire-wrapping. A plurality of rollers are rotatably arranged between the pin rows, each roller having a plurality of tapered slots formed thereon to correspond to the pin positions. The slots present double faced cam lobes so that as the rollers are synchronously rotated, the pins are simultaneously acted upon from four directions to realign any bent pin from any direction to which it may have been bent. When, as the rotation of the rollers continues, the narrowest point of the cam slot is reached, the pins have achieved their proper alignment if previously bent and rotation of the rollers is terminated.

United States Patent 1 Slana [111 3,871,424 1 Mar. 18, 1975 1 APPARATUS FOR REALIGNING ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR TERMINAL PINS [75] Inventor: Matthew Francis Slana, Naperville,

Ill.

[73] Assignee: Bell Telephone Laboratories,

Incorporated, Murray Hill, Berkeley Heights, NJ.

[22] Filed: Mar. 6, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 448,677

[52] US. Cl. 140/147, 72/DIG. 10 {51} Int. Cl ..B2lf1/02 [58] Field of Search 140/147; 72/D1G; 10

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1963 Fick 5/1967 Shambelan 3,520,336 7/1970 Zemek 140/147 Primary ExaminerLowell A. Larson Attorney, Agent, or FirmW.-H. Kamstra [57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for bringing bent terminal pins of an elec' trical connector into alignment in preparation for wire-wrapping. A plurality of rollers are rotatably ary ranged between the pin rows, each roller having a plurality of tapered slots formed thereon to correspond to the pin positions. The slots present double faced cam lobes so that as the rollers are synchronously rotated, the pins are simultaneously acted upon from four directions to realign any bent pin from any direction to which it may have been bent. When, as the rotation of the rollers continues, the narrowest point of the cam slot is reached, the ,pins have achieved their proper alignment if previously bent and rotation of the rollers is terminated.

11 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures APPARATUS FOR REALIGNING ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR TERMINAL PINS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to electrical connector assemblies and more particularly to apparatus adapted to ensurethe proper alignment of connector pins of such as semblies prior to installation.

Electrical connector assemblies are universally employed in'every area of the electronics and communications arts to establish electrical connections between multiple conductor cables and electrical apparatus. In recent years the number of conductors within such cables and hence the number of connector terminals has grown and particularly is this true in making connections to multilayer printed wiring circuit boards. In the latter field the trend is also to a reduction in the size of the terminal pins in order to accommodate the growing number of conductors without increasing the overall physical dimensions of the circuit packs. This has aggravated one problem encountered in the fabrication and preparation of a typical connector assembly for installation in a circuit application. After its manufacture one or usually more of the pins of the assembly are frequently bent from their required mutually parallel and perpendicular alignment. Obviously, a connector assembly mounting such bent pins is unacceptable where the proper alignment of its pins is necessary as, for example, where a subsequent wire-wrapping operation is to be performed or where the pins must be inserted in sockets for individual electrical connections. In the past these pins have been manually and tediously individually straightened to their proper alignment with the aid of optical comparator means. It will be appreciated that this operation is burdensome and time consuming and, when large numbers of connector assemblies each having large fields of pins are involved, that the operation is costly as well.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to achieve the simultaneously straightening of all pins within a connector assembly pin field which are out of proper alignment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and novel apparatus for mass checking the alignment of terminal pins of electrical connector assemblies.

SUMMARY OF-THE INVENTION The foregoing and other objects of this invention are realized in one specific illustrative embodiment thereof comprising a plurality of rollers synchronously rotatable between the rows of terminal pins of a connector assembly. Each of the rollers has milled in its surface about its longitudinal axis a plurality of cam-like, tapered grooves corresponding in number and locations to the number and positions of the pins of a row of pins of the connector assembly. At their deepest cut, the grooves are also the widest, gradually tapering to narrow and shallow openings dimensioned to agree with the dimensions of the pins. The narrow end opposing openings of the adjacent rollers fix the required positions of the pins so that, where a pin is bent out of its proper alignment, it enters the widest opening, it is gradually straightened as it is forced into the narrow opening by cam operation as the rollers are rotated. Pins already in proper alignment are unaffected by the roller action. By means of the novel cam action feature of this operation, large fields of pins may advanta- 2. geously be straightened to close tolerances simultaneously in both an x and a y direction where so bent from its proper axis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The organization and operation of this invention will be better understood from a consideration of the de tailed description of one illustrative embodiment thereof when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 depicts in a simplified, partial threequarter perspective view, one specific pin straightening apparatus according to this invention showing an exemplarydrive mechanism which may be employed therewith, the apparatus being shown enlarged to clarify its details;

FIG. 2 shows in cross sectional end view the disposition of one of the rollers of FIG. 1 and the cam configuration of one of its grooves;

FIG. 3 depicts in plan view portions of two exemplary rollers of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in position preparatory to the realigning of a bent connector pin; and

FIG. 4 depicts the rollers of FIG. 2 after completion of a typcial pin straightening rotation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION An illustrative pin straightening apparatus according to this invention is shown in FIG. 1 in connection with a representative portion of a connector assembly 10 mounting four terminal pins pl, p2, p3, and p4, of which p2 is assumed to be bent in both an x and a y direction from its required parallel alignment with the other pins. The pins conventionally will terminate concluctors of an electrical cable not shown. The apparatus of this invention comprises a plurality of rollers r1, 42, and r3 arranged in parallel between the pin rows and outside of the outer row of pins. Although only two rows of two pins each are shown, it will be appreciated that the connector assembly will normally mount many rows of many pins each. The rollers each has formed on its surface around its longitudinal axis a plurality of pairs of cam-like tapered grooves 11a and 11b corresponding in number to the number of pins of an adjacent row. The cam figuration of the grooves may be more clearly seen from the cross sectional view of FIG. 2 where the roller r2 is shown as inserted between pin p1 and bent pin p2. Each of the cam grooves presents two identical lobes 12a and 12b each in turn presenting a short and a longer face c and d. The cam lobes are dimensioned to fall freely between the pin rows with the longer faces parallelly arranged with the normal longitudinal axes of the pins. The distance between thetwo short faces 0 is determined so that these faces will be in slidable contact with the adjacent rows of pins when the roller is rotated from the foregoing position. The faces 0 and d of each of the grooves 11 of a roller all lie in identical respective planes with the corresponding faces of the grooves of each of the rollers r1, r2, and r3 being parallel.

The grooves 11 and hence the lobes 12 are tapered from the juncture of faces 0 and d with a width sufficient to accommodate the widest swing of a pin from its proper alignment normally encountered. The taper terminates at the opposite c and d face juncture to a width just sufficient to accommodate the dimensions of a pin and from the latter juncture, the groove is slotted with parallel walls. When the pins have substantially square cross section as is assumed in the illustrative embodiment being described, the faces c are planar; should the pin cross section be circular or any other form, the slotted faces c would conform to that cross section. The outer diameter of each of the rollers r need only be sufficient to allow for the full dimensions of the faces c and d of cam lobes 12 and to provide for the wedge action to be described. In order not to obscure the details of the apparatus assembly, the mounting of the rollers r has been omitted from the drawing. Suitable means for rotatably mounting the rollers, however, are readily envisioned by one skilled in the art and are not necessary for a complete understanding of this invention. Thus, for example, the plurality of rollers r may be mounted in a simple surrounding frame, suitably drilled at each cross end to accept bearing shafts 13 of the rollers to permit at least 90 rotation. The synchronous rotation in a clockwise direction as viewed in the drawing may be manually achieved by means of a rack 14 having gear teeth meshing with corresponding gear teeth of a pinion portion of the surfaces of the ends of the rollers r. The rack 14 is also shown only to the extent necessary for an understanding of an illustrative operation of the invention which follows: Thus, the

rack 14 could be slidably supported by one skilled in the art on the same framework supporting the rollers r and could be provided at either or both ends with finger guides for manually urging the rack in either direction. The rollers r and, for that matter, the entire assembly may be fabricated from any suitable metal or commercially available plastic material which will not injure the connector pins.

With the foregoing organization of one illustrative apparatus in mind, an exemplary pin realignment-operation may now be described with particular reference to FIG. 3 and 4 of the drawing. In FIG. 3 are shown portions of the rollers r2 and r3 of the assembly of FIG. I inserted in association with a connector assembly prior to operation to ensure the alignment of pins 12 and p4, the former being bent from its proper alignment. Considering the position of bent pin 22, it is seen that it falls between the sides of the widest opening of a tapered groove 11b of roller r2. As that roller is rotated, its cam lobe 12b will gradually be urged against one side of pin p2, the tapered side of groove 11b being urged against the same pin to apply pressure to the pin in a direction at right angles to that applied by the lobe 12b. As a result, pin p2 is being realigned in both an x and a y direction. The realigning continues as roller r2 rotates until face of groove 11b is in full contact with the side of pin p2. The pin is, as a result, also forced into the slot of face cat the narrow end of the groove to finally achieve the complete realignment of the pin as shown in FIG. 4. It is apparent that where a pin is not bent, the cam action will have no effect, no surface of the cam lobe having been in contact therewith until the final seating of a face c. Since the rollers are synchronously rotated, all of the pin rows will be simultaneously operated upon. Further, since the cams are double faced, the pins of each row will advantageously be acted upon from two directions to provide for the bending of a pin from its proper alignment in any direction.

What has been described is considered to be only one specific illustrative embodiment of the invention and it is to be understood that various and numerous other arrangements may be devised by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as defined by the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for aligning an electrical connector terminal pin comprising cam means adapted for positioning adjacent said pin, said cam means comprising a lobe face for urging said pin a first direction as said cam means is rotated when said pin is bent from a proper alignment in a direction opposite to said first direction,

said cam means also comprising tapered flanges on said lobe face adapted for slidably engaging said pin for also urging said pin in a second direction at substantially right angles to said first direction as said cam means is rotated when said pin is bent from a proper alignment in a direction opposite to said second direction.

2. Apparatus for aligning an electricalconnector terminal pin as claimed in claim 1 in which said cam means comprises a cylindrical roller, said lobe face comprising a tapered slot formed in said roller about its longitudinal axis and said tapered flanges comprising the walls of said slot.

3. Apparatus for aligning the pins of a row of terminal pins of an electrical connector comprising a cam means adapted for positioning adjacent said pin, said cam means comprising a plurality of lobe faces corresponding to the positions of said pins in said row for urging said pins in a first direction as said cam means is rotated when said pins are bent from a proper alignment in a direction opposite to said first direction, said cam means also comprising tapered flanges on each of said lobe faces adapted for slidably engaging said pins for also, urging said pins in a second direction at substantially right angles to said first direction as said cam means is rotated when said pins are bent from a proper alignment in a direction opposite to said second direction.

4. Apparatus foraligning the pins of a row of terminal pins of an electrical connector. as claimed in claim 3 in which said cam means comprises a cylindrical roller, said lobe faces comprising tapered slots formed in said roller about its longitudinal axis and said tapered flanges comprising the walls of said slots.

5. Apparatus for aligning the pins of a row of terminal pins of an electrical connector comprising a pair of cam means adapted for positioning adjacent respective sides of said row of pins, each of said cam means comprising a plurality of lobe faces corresponding to the positions of said pins within said row for urging said pins in a first direction and in a second, opposite direction as said cam means is rotated when said pins are bent from a proper alignment in said second or said first direction,

respectively, said 'cam means also comprising tapered flange surfaces on each of said lobe surfaces adapted for slidably engaging said pins for also urging said pins in directions at substantially right angles, respectively, to said first and second directions as said cam means is rotated when said pins are bent from a proper alignment in said directions at substantially right angles to said second and first directions, respectively.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 in which each of said cam means comprises a cylindrical roller, said lobe faces comprising tapered slots formed in said roller about its longitudinal axis and said tapered flange surfaces comprising the walls of said slots, said apparatus also comprising drive means for synchronously rotating said pair of cam means.

7. Apparatus for aligning the pins of a first and a second row of terminal pins of an electrical connector comprising a cam means adapted for positioning between and adjacent said first and second row of pins, said cam means comprising a plurality of lobes corresponding to the positions of said pins in said first and second row of pins, each of said lobes having opposite faces for urging corresponding pins of said first and second row of pins in opposite first directions as said cam means is rotated when said last-mentioned pins are bent from a proper alignment in directions opposite to said opposite first directions, said cam means also comprising tapered flange surfaces extending from said opposite faces, said surfaces being adapted for slidably engaging said corresponding pins, for also urging said corresponding pins in opposite second directions at substantially right angles to said first directions as said cam means is rotated when said last-mentioned pins are bent from a proper alignment in directions opposite to said opposite second directions.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which said cam means comprises a cylindrical roller, said lobe faces comprising tapered slots formed in said roller about its longitudinal axis and said tapered flange surfaces comprising the walls of said slots.

9. Apparatus for aligning the pins of a plurality of rows of terminal pins of an electrical connector comprising a plurality of cam means adapted for positioning between and adjacent respective'sides of the pins of said plurality of rows of pins; each of said cam means comprising a plurality of lobes corresponding to the positions of the pins in said plurality of rows of pins, each of said lobes having opposite faces for urging corre: sponding pins of adjacent rows of pins in opposite first directions as said cam means is rotated when said corresponding pins are bent from a proper alignment in directions opposite to said opposite first directions, said cam means also comprising tapered flange surfaces extending from said opposite faces, said surfaces being adapted for slidably engaging said corresponding pins, for also urging said corresponding pins in opposite second directons at substantially right angles to said first directions as said cam means are rotated when said lastmentioned pins are bent from a proper alignment in directions opposite to said opposite second directions.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 in which each of said cam means comprises a cylindrical roller, said lobe faces comprising tapered slots formed in said roller about its longitudinal axis and said tapered flange surfaces comprising the walls of said slots.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10 also comprising drive means for synchronously rotating said plurality of 

1. Apparatus for aligning an electrical connector terminal pin comPrising cam means adapted for positioning adjacent said pin, said cam means comprising a lobe face for urging said pin a first direction as said cam means is rotated when said pin is bent from a proper alignment in a direction opposite to said first direction, said cam means also comprising tapered flanges on said lobe face adapted for slidably engaging said pin for also urging said pin in a second direction at substantially right angles to said first direction as said cam means is rotated when said pin is bent from a proper alignment in a direction opposite to said second direction.
 2. Apparatus for aligning an electrical connector terminal pin as claimed in claim 1 in which said cam means comprises a cylindrical roller, said lobe face comprising a tapered slot formed in said roller about its longitudinal axis and said tapered flanges comprising the walls of said slot.
 3. Apparatus for aligning the pins of a row of terminal pins of an electrical connector comprising a cam means adapted for positioning adjacent said pin, said cam means comprising a plurality of lobe faces corresponding to the positions of said pins in said row for urging said pins in a first direction as said cam means is rotated when said pins are bent from a proper alignment in a direction opposite to said first direction, said cam means also comprising tapered flanges on each of said lobe faces adapted for slidably engaging said pins for also urging said pins in a second direction at substantially right angles to said first direction as said cam means is rotated when said pins are bent from a proper alignment in a direction opposite to said second direction.
 4. Apparatus for aligning the pins of a row of terminal pins of an electrical connector as claimed in claim 3 in which said cam means comprises a cylindrical roller, said lobe faces comprising tapered slots formed in said roller about its longitudinal axis and said tapered flanges comprising the walls of said slots.
 5. Apparatus for aligning the pins of a row of terminal pins of an electrical connector comprising a pair of cam means adapted for positioning adjacent respective sides of said row of pins, each of said cam means comprising a plurality of lobe faces corresponding to the positions of said pins within said row for urging said pins in a first direction and in a second, opposite direction as said cam means is rotated when said pins are bent from a proper alignment in said second or said first direction, respectively, said cam means also comprising tapered flange surfaces on each of said lobe surfaces adapted for slidably engaging said pins for also urging said pins in directions at substantially right angles, respectively, to said first and second directions as said cam means is rotated when said pins are bent from a proper alignment in said directions at substantially right angles to said second and first directions, respectively.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 5 in which each of said cam means comprises a cylindrical roller, said lobe faces comprising tapered slots formed in said roller about its longitudinal axis and said tapered flange surfaces comprising the walls of said slots, said apparatus also comprising drive means for synchronously rotating said pair of cam means.
 7. Apparatus for aligning the pins of a first and a second row of terminal pins of an electrical connector comprising a cam means adapted for positioning between and adjacent said first and second row of pins, said cam means comprising a plurality of lobes corresponding to the positions of said pins in said first and second row of pins, each of said lobes having opposite faces for urging corresponding pins of said first and second row of pins in opposite first directions as said cam means is rotated when said last-mentioned pins are bent from a proper alignment in directions opposite to said opposite first directions, said cam means also comprising tapered flange surfaces extending from said opposite faces, said surfaces being adapted for slidably engagIng said corresponding pins, for also urging said corresponding pins in opposite second directions at substantially right angles to said first directions as said cam means is rotated when said last-mentioned pins are bent from a proper alignment in directions opposite to said opposite second directions.
 8. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which said cam means comprises a cylindrical roller, said lobe faces comprising tapered slots formed in said roller about its longitudinal axis and said tapered flange surfaces comprising the walls of said slots.
 9. Apparatus for aligning the pins of a plurality of rows of terminal pins of an electrical connector comprising a plurality of cam means adapted for positioning between and adjacent respective sides of the pins of said plurality of rows of pins, each of said cam means comprising a plurality of lobes corresponding to the positions of the pins in said plurality of rows of pins, each of said lobes having opposite faces for urging corresponding pins of adjacent rows of pins in opposite first directions as said cam means is rotated when said corresponding pins are bent from a proper alignment in directions opposite to said opposite first directions, said cam means also comprising tapered flange surfaces extending from said opposite faces, said surfaces being adapted for slidably engaging said corresponding pins, for also urging said corresponding pins in opposite second directons at substantially right angles to said first directions as said cam means are rotated when said last-mentioned pins are bent from a proper alignment in directions opposite to said opposite second directions.
 10. Apparatus according to claim 9 in which each of said cam means comprises a cylindrical roller, said lobe faces comprising tapered slots formed in said roller about its longitudinal axis and said tapered flange surfaces comprising the walls of said slots.
 11. Apparatus according to claim 10 also comprising drive means for synchronously rotating said plurality of cam means. 